M-8 Cars - Delivery and Acceptance

Yeah, they probably had a bunch of M8's sitting in GCT that they couldn't send out on the NHL so they probably sent a set or two out on the H&H just to relieve some congestion.

lirr42 wrote:Yeah, they probably had a bunch of M8's sitting in GCT that they couldn't send out on the NHL so they probably sent a set or two out on the H&H just to relieve some congestion.

Yes, that was my theory (see my post, above.)

Though I'm sure there are others here who would know better than me.

You'll probably see M8's all over the H&H for a while, had some in NWP already.

RearOfSignal wrote:You'll probably see M8's all over the H&H for a while, had some in NWP already.

I almost rode an M8 this morning. But it turned out it was a local (running 10 minutes late), the express (also ~10 minutes late) was an M7a .

lirr42 wrote:Yeah, they probably had a bunch of M8's sitting in GCT that they couldn't send out on the NHL so they probably sent a set or two out on the H&H just to relieve some congestion.

No so much to relieve congestion, there's not much coming down the NHL anyway. But GCT is limited in its abilities to service equipment, so that stuff gets sent out. The Harlem will probably see the through trains to Wassaic replaced by electrics south of Southeast. There was a scramble to free up electrics this morning to cover some of the normal bomb train runs. So we might see M8s in unusual places for a while.

From the MTA page:

More M8s In Service
As of April 7, 2013, we are operating more M8s than old equipment (M2/M4/M6) on the New Haven Line. Customers have the opportunity to ride one or more of the 808 M8 weekly trains (122 on Mondays-Thursdays, 125 on Fridays, 101 on Saturdays and 94 on Sundays).

The new M8 trains represent 54% of total weekday New Haven Main Line service (Monday-Friday), 78.9% of Saturday service and 79.7% of Sunday service.

These trains operate during peak and off-peak service between New Haven, Stamford and Grand Central Terminal.

Bikes:

M8 Bike Rack Prototype
The Connecticut Department of Transportation and MTA Metro-North Railroad tested two prototype bike mount systems specifically designed and manufactured for the M8 fleet by Sportworks on a pair of new M8s. A final prototype design is under review by Metro-North and the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Credit: John Christensen via Facebook Group Northeast Railfans and I Haz a Choo Choo Problem.

You mean I Haz a Choo Choo Train Problem

What Jeff neglected to post is that the picture is apparently from near the Kawasaki plant in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Just for that, maybe I should purge your signature!

Yes, Scalpels aka Choo Choo Train Problem, is correct. I've seen the picture in a few rail groups on Facebook.

Back on-topic; does anyone have an idea when the last M-8 will roll off the line in NE? I think we're approaching the end of an era with EMU's.

not really, after another 120 M-8 pair and 25 singles there may be a last option(58 cars), then the M-9 will be next with possibly over 500 cars

News of the additional option came to me through this thread; I didn't know there was one AFTER the 380 and 25 singles... That's a pretty big fleet considering where they were. Sounds like they'll have more than enough now for SLE and PSAS (if the latter ever happens).

How many are they churning out a week? 4? 8? if it's 4, they'll be done in 30 weeks with the initial order. 8 would be 15. Then they'll work on the singles and additional options; the singles would take about 6 weeks. Another possible 58 cars at 4 per week would be 15 weeks or less. So at 4 per week (and I think it's more) we're talking they'll be done through the singles as early as back of the pad calculation 9 months, or next summer. If you go with 8 per week, we're talking next spring. An additional 58, you'd still be done by the end of the year 2014 I think. And then on to the M9's...

as "a choo choo problem" would agree I just want my bar cars

Jeff Smith wrote:News of the additional option came to me through this thread; I didn't know there was one AFTER the 380 and 25 singles... That's a pretty big fleet considering where they were. Sounds like they'll have more than enough now for SLE and PSAS (if the latter ever happens).

How many are they churning out a week? 4? 8? if it's 4, they'll be done in 30 weeks with the initial order. 8 would be 15. Then they'll work on the singles and additional options; the singles would take about 6 weeks. Another possible 58 cars at 4 per week would be 15 weeks or less. So at 4 per week (and I think it's more) we're talking they'll be done through the singles as early as back of the pad calculation 9 months, or next summer. If you go with 8 per week, we're talking next spring. An additional 58, you'd still be done by the end of the year 2014 I think. And then on to the M9's...

The NHL is so car-hungry that they'd be best off just exhausting the order altogether PSAS's status be damned. Over the rated lifetime of these things before first rebuild the vehicle requirements are going to swell so much that ultimately the current growth curve is going to merit all 458 units. East-of-Stamford consists are going to have to get a lot longer. Many platforms that are currently 4-6 cars are going to have to get lengthened through gradual station overturning to 8-10 cars to keep the dwell times from decaying. Maxing the order is the only way to effectively feed the beast, lest they find themselves in such an acute pinch that a workalike supplemental order has to go on the table in 10 years. They save money in the long run getting it over with now.

New M8 cars 9596 thru 9599 seen rolling through suburban Chicago earlier today. But it may be quite sometime (perhaps a week or more) before they continue east: UP & CSX have been having some serious interchange problems lately...

its almost 4 years since first M-8's arrived in New Haven yet still no M-8 has been tested east of New Haven.
Its still unknown if 25 Kv 60 Hz power and ACSES cab signaling works.